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Monday, February 3, 2014

The "C" word strikes my family again....

Cancer has made its way back into my family, this time visiting my Mom...again. You would think facing cancer once would be enough, but twice? Really? I don't get it. BUT, in true Ellis fashion my Mom has beat it once again. She is cancer free. Many of you know already about her recent battle, but in case you haven't and want the details, here you go. (Hopefully I don't confuse the crap out of you!)

She was diagnosed just before Thanksgiving with adenocarcinoma of endometrium, which is basically uterine cancer. Uterine cancer is a silent cancer and most women don't even know they have it. This is why it is so important to get your yearly checkups with your doctors. Get blood work done, do everything possible because you really just never know. Uterine cancer is common and very curable. To rid her body of cancer once again all she needed was a full hysterectomy, which she needed anyways. So, she was not only removing her female parts, she was removing the beast as well! Her doctor, Doctor Wingo performed the surgery (mid-December) and everything went just great. The surrounding lymph nodes were not affected and she believed she rid my Mom of cancer. A long healing process ensued for my Mom (probably a good 3 weeks of decent pain), but soon she was back on her feet and to her old self again. It wasn't until the follow up with Dr. Wingo that she received more bad news. We were told originally she most likely would not have to do chemo because she got all the cancer, but after talking with Dr. Wingo and going over her pathology, it seemed that chemo would be the best option to make sure this cancer would NEVER come back. If she were to not choose chemo and cancer reared it's ugly head once again it probably would be all over Mom's body. SO, the pros of going through chemo outweighed the cons so beginning tomorrow Mom has her first treatment. For now her protocol is 3 treatments, then some radiation and a possible followup of more chemo (that is to be decided).

So, how does this make me feel? Well for one, it makes me mad. I don't want to see my Mom go through what I had to. It's not fun. Everyone is different so how she will react to what is pumped through her veins tomorrow is unknown. My Mom is the strongest person I know and I know she will do just fine, but I just wish this wasn't in her cards. Will she lose her hair? Her papers say yes, but a google search I did said "thinning." Like I said everyone is different. Who knows. We won't know until she begins and that day is tomorrow. I'm sure she will rock baldness as awesome as I did. :) Her chemo is totally different than mine. She won't have a port inserted and she actually has to be in the "chemo room" for many more hours than I was! 6 hours of chillin' there tomorrow is what she's up for (at least they have WiFi)! UGH! Her time spent there in future treatments should be less. Although it sucks really bad she has to go through this, knowing that she is eliminating the chances of this awful disease coming back into her body I am able to live with it. And since my Mom is a fighter she has this in the bag and once again will come out a champion. :)

This leads me to tomorrow. It is a really bittersweet day. For one it's World Cancer Day. It's also the start of Mom's chemo AND it's my 4 year anniversary of the day I was told I had cancer. I can't believe it's been 4 years. I will never forget the time or place when I got the "news." Although it was not the news I wanted, nor ever expected to hear, at least I finally knew what was going on in my body and I could start the fight. 4 years ago my life changed forever. I know for a fact I would not be a student at SCNM if I didn't go through what I did. Cancer truly is life changing and I am so thankful I am here to experience life and just like me, I know my Mom will fight on and continue to spread her powerful messages of being proactive with your health and be the amazing person she is.

As you rest your head down tonight, please say a prayer for my Mom and pray that she makes it through her chemo treatments without any hardships. I am confident she will do just fine because she is the strongest person I know and she has the support of all of you, Team Ellis behind her. You got this Mom! Love you!!